Play it Forward: The top 10 sports events from Aug. 25-31 you won’t want to miss

NO. 1: COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 1

NO. 7 UCLA at VIRGINIA

Details/TV: Saturday at 9 a.m., ESPN

NO. 15 USC vs. FRESNO STATE

Details/TV: Coliseum, Saturday at 4:30 p.m., Ch. 11

Sift through all those college football preseason prognostic publications and you may come across the one that took the initiative to put a list together of the 100 impact players of the 2014 season. Not surprisingly, UCLA and USC are well represented. One valid reason why the Bruins start the year so high in the rankings without having played a game yet is the presence of quarterback Brett Hundley. The No. 14 most impactful player on BecketSports preseason magazine has thrown or rushed for a touchdown in each of his 27 career games going into his junior season, completing nearly two-thirds of his passes for 6,700 yards over a two-year career, and piling up 53 TDs compared to 20 picks. Then there’s Myles Jack, No. 31 on the list, the offensive and defensive freshman of the year last season by accounting for eight TDs — seven as a running back and one returned after an interception. The Bruins’ opening act toward possibly repeating as the Pac-12 South champs starts way out in Charlottesville, Va., against a school that went 2-10 a year ago and lost its last nine. The Trojans have a much more familiar dance partner to start their season — the one they ended it with last year. And they’re doing so with five players on that top 100 list, all underclassmen as well. Junior defensive end Leonard Williams (No. 11), junior running back Javorius “Buck” Allen (No. 41), sophomore safety Su’a Cravens (No. 55), junior quarterback Cody Kessler (No. 68) and junior receiver Nelson Agholor (No. 73) were part of a Trojan squad that ended a scattered 2013 season with a 45-20 win over Fresno State in the less-than-infamous Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl. Allen ran 27 times for 86 yards and two TDs, while game MVP Kessler completed 22 of 30 passes for a career-high 345 yards and four TDs, two of them to Agholor (5 catches, 94 yards).

NO. 2: MLB: ANGELS vs. OAKLAND

Details/TV: Angel Stadium, Thursday-Sunday, FSW

These four contests in Anaheim finish off a time frame where the teams will have met seven times in a 10-day stretch. A few of the same starting pitching matchups will repeat from last weekend. And they still have three more to go at the end of next month. “The pennant race is in full bloom,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said even before the most recent series against the A’s began.

The series: Thursday and Friday at 7:05 p.m., Saturday at 6:05 p.m., Sunday at 12:35 p.m.

NO. 3: IRL: MAVTV 500

Details/TV: At Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Saturday at 6 p.m., NBCSN

A year ago, the final race of the IRL season at Fontana wasn’t until mid-October. Now, the 18th and final stop of the Indy Racing League is where points leader and defending Fontana champ Will Power will try to impose his will and power his way to a series title under the lights. Expect to see some sort of challenge put up by Power’s Penske teammates Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya, plus Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay.

NO. 4: TENNIS: U.S. OPEN, FIRST ROUND

Andy Murray, Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens are among the name-recognizable players out there for Day 1, while Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic are on the Arthur Ashe center court for the night matches. The men’s top-seeded Djokovic is the 6-5 favorite with Rafael Nadal a no-show because of injury. Women’s 3-2 favorite Serena Williams doesn’t arrive until Tuesday when she faces 18-year-old Taylor Townsend, whom the 32-year-old Williams calls “the future of American tennis.” ESPN has the event each weekday until the third round coverage moves to Channel 2 on Saturday (8 a.m.) and Tennis Channel (4 p.m.). The 26-day event concludes with the women’s and men’s doubles final on Sunday, Sept. 8, while the men’s final is Monday, Sept. 9.

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NO. 5: MLB: DODGERS at ARIZONA

Details/TV: Tuesday-Wednesday, SNLA

DODGERS at SAN DIEGO

Details/TV: Friday-Sunday, SNLA

Why not make the last week of vacation heading into Labor Day weekend a trip to Phoenix and San Diego before calling it a summer, with a travel day Thursday built into the journey? The Dodgers had to scramble in taking two of three from the Padres last weekend, but still have won nine of the previous 14 games this season. The D’backs remain a mess at the bottom of the NL West.

NO. 8: MLB: ANGELS vs. FLORIDA

Details/TV: Angel Stadium, Monday-Wednesday, FSW

Wade LeBlanc steps into the Angels’ rotation, at least for the opener of this inter-league series against the Marlins, as we see what happens without Garrett Richards to rely upon. LeBlanc started 16 games for Miami from 2012-13 for a combined 3-10 record.

The series: Each night at 7:05 p.m.

NO. 9: BASKETBALL

FIBA WORLD CUP: U.S. vs. FINLAND

Details/TV: In Bibao, Spain, Saturday at 12:30 p.m., ESPN:

There are no Clippers or Lakers on the 12-man American roster, which will likely stick with its starting lineup that includes Derrick Rose, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis going forward without Kevin Durant and Paul George. Team USA has won the last three major international tournaments, including the 2012 London Olympics. The U.S. schedule continues with a game against Turkey (Sunday, 12:30 p.m., ESPN).

NO. 10: MLS: GALAXY vs. CHIVAS USA

Details/TV: StubHub Center, Sunday at 5 p.m., TWCS

In the second meeting of this season’s three-game SuperClassico in early June, the defensive unit of playoff-challenged Chivas made things difficult for the Galaxy, playing without Robbie Keane, in a 1-1 outcome.

It’s the last day for the practice schedule, and all 32 teams are participating. The Chargers’ home practice against the Cardinals is most interesting because the two teams meet again on Monday, Sept. 8, in the season opener at Glendale, Ariz.